Michigan's Best Reach Higher at Milford
August 4, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP – Mackenna Kelly led her basketball team to last season’s MHSAA Semifinals and knows where she’ll eventually end up – playing for Central Michigan University in two years.
But having played on a big stage with her next destination decided didn’t keep the Frankfort senior-to-be from gaining valuable insight during this summer’s Reaching Higher showcase at Milford High School.
While most of the 200 players who participated in July’s girls and boys events sponsored by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and MHSAA did so in part to train and play in front of the numerous college coaches gathered, Kelly was able to experience a little bit of a primer for her summer 2016.
“(Reaching Higher) is a great opportunity to get noticed, show off your skills and work with different people,” said Kelly, who will sign with the Chippewas this fall. “When you go to college you’re unfamiliar with all of your teammates at first. It’s good to start working with other people.”
The Reaching Higher events, in their seventh year, again featured many of the top 100 girls and boys college prospects as selected by a BCAM committee. College coaches representing more than 30 programs combined (men’s and women’s) and all levels attended the sessions.
Former Detroit Cooley standout and current Orlando Magic guard Willie Green spoke with the boys, while former Grosse Pointe North star and University of Notre Dame captain Ariel Braker discussed with the girls some of the challenges that come with being a college athlete. Participants also learned about NCAA eligibility, and parents attended sessions on college recruiting. Meanwhile, groups of officials learned from experienced mentors and then were evaluated during games later in the events.
Players left Milford with plenty to take home not only from a personal standpoint, but to assist their teammates as well.
For Kelly, it was the potential value of the pick-and-roll game for the Panthers, who fell to St. Ignace one game from the Class D Final in March. For Munising junior Marissa Immel, it was the variety of drills she and her teammates can add to work on their skills.
Belleville sophomore Davion Williams is considered one of the state’s top prospects in his class, but saw that he needs to step up his pull-up shooting. Senior teammate Calvin Blaydes appreciated the opportunity to play with such a strong group of players – and also the necessity to adjust his game to fit theirs and a different coach’s style during the three scrimmage sessions. Jackson junior Shonte Suddeth listened closely to the Magic’s Green; “Everything he said he was doing, I’ve got to do if I want to make it to the next level,” Suddeth said.
“If you're a state’s top-100 player, you need to be here,” said Muskegon boys coach Keith Guy, who has assisted with the event since its start and led the Big Reds to the Class A title in 2014. “I think it’s a great way the state is trying to give back to these athletes ... and I think kids need to take more advantage of this opportunity.”
Click for photos of the girls event and photos from the boys event, and see below for video explaining the Reaching Higher events.
PHOTOS: (Top) Fruitport's Iyana Brown (92) and Temperance Bedford's Kendall Anderson prepare to launch for the jump ball during a Reaching Higher scrimmage. (Middle) Southfield Christian's Brock Washington prepares for a free throw.
Buckley Ends Wait with 1st Semifinal Win
March 23, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Buckley’s boys basketball team waited a long time to make this history – more than 100 years on the court, and then through a double overtime Semifinal on the other side of the Class D bracket Thursday.
But however long it took to earn the program’s first MHSAA championship game berth, it was going to be worth it.
The Bears’ best run ever will reach this season’s final day, as they won their first Semifinal in team history 68-61 over Lansing Christian at the Breslin Center to advance to Saturday’s 10 a.m. Final against two-time reigning champion Powers North Central.
Only twice previously had Buckley made the season’s final week, playing in Quarterfinals in 2010 and 1998. But the Bears have built a dominating 26-0 run this winter keyed by a talented group of juniors who have brought plenty of attention to their small town tucked 20 miles south of Traverse City.
“Speechless. Unbelievable. (I’m sad) it’s over, but I’m glad we’re here,” junior Austin Harris said.
“Sometimes like tonight, I’m just standing out there watching these guys shoot free throws,” junior teammate Denver Cade added, “and I’m like, ‘Man, we did it. We’re here. Let’s just keep winning.’”
That toughest task is next to come. Buckley takes its perfect season into the championship game against the Jets, who needed double overtime in their Semifinal to get past Southfield Christian and extend their nation-best winning streak to 82 straight victories.
That 40-minute classic left Buckley and Lansing Christian waiting a little longer to finish the night. But the Bears were more than ready when they got their chance.
Buckley led for all but 16 seconds during the final 27 minutes against the Pilgrims (19-7), yet by only two after senior Nick Jamieson’s 3-pointer pulled them to within 61-59 with 1:03 to play. But the Bears closed on a 7-2 run making 7 of 8 free throws while Lansing Christian connected on only one shot in four attempts while trying to catch up over that final stretch.
“I thought that might be a problem,” Buckley coach Blair Moss said of the delay. “But these guys came right out. I said let’s go get them, let’s attack them. We’re not scared of anybody. We’ve been doing it all summer long, all fall, and I’m so proud of these guys because they took it right to them.”
Harris led with 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Cade added 13 points and nine rebounds. Guard Joey Weber, another junior, added 10 points and six boards.
Lansing Christian said good-bye to a strong senior group, with center Preston Granger leading one more time with 15 points and eight rebounds, Forrest Bouyer adding 13 points and Matt Havey scoring 10. All five starters will graduate this spring, but having brought the Pilgrims to their second Semifinal in five seasons.
“I met with them in August … and said what do you want to do?” Lansing Christian first-year coach Chris Mustaine said. “I’m brand new, this is a senior-heavy team. What do you want to do? What do you want to accomplish? Do we want this to be fun, or what are our goals?
“And they laid it out. They said we want to play at Breslin. We want to be the best possible team we can be, and they have spent every day since that day in August trying to do that, all the way up to today. Even in the middle of the fourth quarter, we said how can we get better? And they did; we just came up a couple shots short, a couple missed free throws short of having a shot at it at the end.”
For Buckley, the biggest test is yet to come. But the Bears were looking forward to that challenge already late Thursday night.
“We came down here and we talked,” Moss said, “and we said we’re not going to go home yet.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Buckley’s Ridge Beeman (30) tries to direct a shot around the outstretched arms of Lansing Christian’s Forrest Bouyer. (Middle) The Pilgrims’ Matt Havey (3) pushes the ball upcourt.